Posts tagged On The Go
Making Omni-Channel Retailing A Reality
Apr 24th
In the following excerpt, from the article Making Omni-Channel Retailing A Reality, the author, Michael Griffiths of MicrosoftDynamics, highlights the importance of creating a united system in today’s changing world of retail. See what Griffiths has to say below, then read the full article on Forbes.com for more information on how omni-channel retailing is impacting the industry.
Just about everyone in the business is talking about “omni-channel” retailing—an approach that transcends multi-channel retailing, to connect the web, mobile, and brick-and-mortar channels into a truly seamless customer experience. It’s what customers are coming to expect and, when done right, can provide sellers with greater visibility into customer behavior, allowing the retailer to understand (and influence) the customer journey across channels.
The key to succeeding in omni-channel retailing is understanding the new role of the store: the central representation of your brand. This means that no matter which channel the customer is using to reach you—brick and mortar, online, or mobile—your customers see your store as a single, transparent system rather than multiple channels with separate inventory, processing, and delivery systems.
The combination of multiple channels, markets, and devices highlights the most significant challenge of all: real omni-channel execution and insight in a world of applications that were not built to work together. How can retailers take advantage of additional channels, emerging markets, and new opportunities for growth when traditional business applications just aren’t up to the task?
Omni-channel retail may sound like a challenge, but offering your customer a seamless experience across channels, is easy with the help of MBS. Our POS, e-commerce solution, mobile application, accounting, analytics, text management applications and more are all tightly integrated, so you can create a cohesive customer experience with little effort. Talk to your MBS Systems Sales consultant about the solutions we offer and how we can help your store go omnichannel.
Target Fights Showrooming with Price Match Guarantee
Jan 15th
The following article, written by Ross Taylor, AP, and published on USAToday.com, is further proof that transparency is essential to success in today’s evolving retail industry. We have several solutions in place to ensure your students can access relevant pricing information from any location including our e-commerce product, inSite, price comparison tools and even a mobile app. Talk with your MBS Representative to learn how they can help your store stay competitive.
Target said Tuesday that its pledge to match prices of select online rivals this past holiday season is now a year-round promise.
The nation’s second largest discounter behind Wal-Mart Stores said it will match prices that customers find on identical products at top online retailers, all the time. The online list includes Amazon.com as well as the websites of Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Babies R Us.
Target’s holiday price match program with online retailers began Nov. 1 and ended Dec. 16. Target is also making permanent its holiday offer of matching prices of items found at its stores with those on its website. And for the first time it will include products that are out of stock on Target.com.
The company’s stock price closed at a record $61.30 a share and was 0.7% lower in Tuesday trading.
The moves follow a disappointing holiday shopping season for the Minneapolis-based retailer, hurt by stiffer competition from online rivals and stores like Wal-Mart that have hammered its low prices.
It’s also the latest step from brick-and-mortar stores to combat “showrooming” — a growing trend for customers to browse their stores to check out products, and then go online to buy the same products for less elsewhere.
Mark Schindele, Target senior vice president of merchandising operations, noted the discounter monitors prices of 30,000 items, and thousands more online, to make sure it’s competitive. But Target says it had to do more to give shoppers more confidence.
“We believe that our prices are competitive year round,” Schindele said in an interview. “We also know that our guests shop in many ways.”
Many major stores have offered price matching guarantees for local competitors’ brick-and-mortar stores, but it wasn’t until this past holiday season that the focus was on matching online prices. That can be difficult, since online prices tend to be lower and fluctuate often.
Best Buy is matching prices with 20 online retailers on electronics and appliances at its physical stores through Jan. 31. Best Buy spokeswoman Amy von Walter declined to “speculate” on whether it would make that plan permanent.
Since last summer Toys R Us has been matching online prices for all identical items or models of baby gear merchandise from selected national competitors like walmart.com, target.com, sears.com, Amazon, buybuybaby.com and diapers.com. Like Target’s policy, it excludes Amazon’s third-party Marketplace items.
Wal-Mart has trumpeted its low price message but stopped short of matching prices with online rivals.
Joel Bines, managing director and co-head of the retail practice at AlixPartners, praised recent moves by retailers to have an online policy.
“Retailers have finally gotten the message,” he said. “You can’t put an impediment between consumers and consumption.” But he said that the policies can backfire. Stores have to make it easier for shoppers to get the price match. And he noted the move could also turn out to be “profit draining” as more people are encouraged to shop the Web to get the lowest price.
Bines and other analysts say the online price match policies are also tough to implement given the constant fluctuation of online prices, even in the same day. That was particularly evident around Thanksgiving week. From Nov. 19 to Nov. 30 Amazon.com doubled the average number of promoted products it changed prices on each day compared with the same period a year ago, according to Dynamite Data, which tracks online prices.
Still, having a price match policy in place is essential for cheap chic Target, analysts say. The discounter, known for selling trendy merchandise and staples like toothpaste under the same roof, has seen uneven sales growth since the economic downturn as it tries to convince frugal shoppers it has good prices. This past holiday season, Target chose to limit promotions to preserve profits. That resulted in muted sales in November and December. However, Target expects fourth-quarter earnings to meet or possibly top the low end of its previous outlook.
As for the holiday price match plan, Schindele noted that shoppers like the plan. Price matches may be requested at Target’s guest services desk prior to purchase, with proof of an online competitor’s current price or after purchase with the original Target receipt and proof of the lower online price.
“This has been a seamless experience,” Schindele said. “There have been a lot of positives.”
Survey: 70% of Consumers Say They’re More Likely to Buy if You Have Mobile App
Dec 11th
The following article was written by Courtney Rubin, Business Writer, for the AMEX Open Forum.
Consumers are more likely to buy from you if you have a mobile app, according to a new report. Accenture Interactive surveyed 2,000 consumers (1,000 in the U.S. and 1,000 in the U.K.) age 20 to 40; 70 percent said a mobile app makes them more likely to make a purchase.
There’s an App for That
In the U.S., 65 percent said they compare prices on a smartphone or tablet while shopping in the store—partly because more than half think prices are higher in store than they are online. Even if they come to the store to inspect the product in person, 48 percent said they head home to buy the product online. Just 20 percent make the final purchase in the store.
U.S. consumers overwhelmingly are concerned about privacy—82 percent worried about websites tracking their online behavior. But they’re also aware that the tracking is required for them to receive personalized special offers—something 61 percent want.
Sixty-four percent said they were open to receiving text messages while visiting a store to let them know about offers related to previous items they’ve bought. More than half (60 percent) said they “strongly agree” with receiving advertisements on their phone if they’ve opted into them. (Read more on how coupons motivate online shoppers to buy.)
A Digital Personal Shopping Experience
“Consumer marketing needs to address the current disconnect between offline and online shopping and enhance the physical store front with tailored digital experiences,” says Baiju Shah, Accenture’s managing director of strategy and innovation.
He adds: “Consumers don’t want to shop online exclusively and our work with retailers shows that physical stores don’t have to compete on price alone but rather focus on the whole experience. Retailers need to create a seamless, multi-channel experience that blends the digital and physical, and delivers convenience, price and relevance.
Other findings: Nearly all consumers (92 percent) say they are more likely to buy from a company that uses social media. Their preferred social media channel? 67 percent say Facebook.
The Future of College Stores is Digital
College stores need to consider mobile and digital strategies in order to succeed in the evolving industry. Not sure where to start? We have solutions that can help. Our customizable mobile app, On The Go, offers you a way to connect with students outside the store, as well as to offer them price comparison from the palm of their hands. Talk with your MBS Representative to learn more about how you can make your store mobile.
The Difference Between Mobile Web and App Shoppers
Oct 15th
The following article was written by Lauren Johnson, associate reporter, for Mobile Commerce Daily.
Marketers are increasingly using mobile to drive both online and in-store revenue. However, with the bulk of mobile commerce coming in through applications and sites, marketers need to realize that there are key differentiators in how consumers shop on their mobile devices across both platforms.
In order to figure out which channel is best to use, marketers need to first tie their commerce initiatives to a strategic goal. Shopping habits also differ significantly from smartphones to tablets.
“Mindset precedes toolset,” said Eric Feinberg, senior director of mobile, media and entertainment at ForeSee, New York. “The mindset of the customer visiting a tablet is decidedly different than a mobile phone visitor.
“According to our Mobile Satisfaction Index study, customer expectations and satisfaction are different between smartphone and tablet,” he said. “It’s a spectrum, with mobile on one side and the traditional PC Web experience on the other side. Tablets were once more closely aligned with the mobile experience. But what we’re seeing is that customers expect more of a fully optimized Web experience on their tablets – a full experience but tablet-optimized. Brands need to create a customer experience optimized for tablets rather than just pushing a regular Web site onto a mobile device because consumers expect more from a tablet than they do a smartphone.”
By the numbers
ForeSee recently released a report that looked at the top twenty retail mobile sites and apps and how they rank in customer service in its Mobile Satisfaction Index (see story).
The report found that 65 percent of mobile shoppers this holiday season are repeat consumers. Thirty-five percent of users are first-time mobile buyers.
Sixty-eight percent of shoppers in the study were on mobile sites while 32 percent were on apps. Although they represented a smaller number of consumers, the app users surveyed as being the most satisfied with their mobile shopping experience.
The data points to the mobile Web as attracting a larger amount of users. However marketers looking to retain users and increase loyalty might be better suited to an app.
Moreover, 37 percent of consumers in the study visited either a mobile site or app based on their familiarity with the brand, showing how consumers nowadays expect that their favorite retailers and brands have a mobile presence.
Shop on mobile
Another recent study from Javelin Research digs deeper into the shopping differences between mobile Web and app shoppers.
Javelin Research recently found some interesting differences between mobile Web and app shoppers in its “Mobile Payments Hit $20 Billion in 2012: Tablets Are Key to a Successful Retail Strategy” report (see story).
According to the study, commerce from mobile Web and apps will generate $20.3 billion out of the total mobile commerce market of $20.7 billion. This shows that despite the attention that mobile payments get, the real opportunity for mobile commerce right now still lies in apps and sites.
Per Javelin’s findings, app shoppers make an average of 2.5 transactions and spend $26 monthly. On the Web side, the average shopper made 2.54 purchases with a monthly spend of $37. Small items such as ringtones, paid apps and music attributed to the smaller app spend.
Additionally, the study found that 59 percent of consumers surveyed have used both a mobile app and site to buy.
Interestingly, 27 percent of mobile shoppers only buy through the mobile Web. Fourteen percent of consumers in the study only used apps to shop.
The figures show why it is important for brands to have both a mobile Web site and apps. The app sales most likely represent consumers who only download a few apps from their favorite brands onto their devices. These same users are shopping on the mobile Web though, too.
In order to capture the widest group of users, brands need to develop both mobile Web sites and apps.
“Mobile commerce should not be about native apps versus Web apps,” said Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine, founder/CEO of MobiCart, Newcastle upon Tyne, Britain. “It should be about offering the best possible experience to your customers on any mobile device. Retailers need to have a strategy for both options.”
Place your bets
After marketers understand how consumers shop, the next step is to set up mobile sites and apps to mimic the behaviors specific to each platform through merchandising.
“There are a number of layers to the way merchandising and product mix can be applied to a mobile shopping experience,” said Eric Newman, vice president of marketing and products at Digby, Austin, TX. “In many cases, retailers will choose to create a subset of their catalog specifically formulated for the mobile buyer – a simpler set of products to traverse on a small screen or a set of products most likely to be purchased by a mobile shopper for replenishment scenarios.”
For example, a mobile site might be better suited to push out best-selling products or the latest collections. On the other hand, apps can leverage a loyal user’s purchase history to serve up recommended products.
Location is also an important component to include in mobile commerce apps and sites. A simple store locator can help drive a mobile Web shopper to find the product in a bricks-and-mortar store while an app could track down store-specific inventory and offers.
“Unlike mobile Web, rich apps can proactively understand when a shopper visits a bricks-and-mortar store and that additional, real-time context opens up new possibilities for the retailer to engage that consumer in a meaningful way,” Mr. Newman said.
“In the online world, retailers understand everything about the customer when they visit the Web site — matching up their shopping history with their current interests based on the way they traverse the site,” he said. “This allows the retailer to tailor the experience for the shopper, offering up relevant cross-sells and informed promotions that make sense to that shopper. Rich apps’ knowledge of location allows retailers to realize that same rich context for physical bricks-and-mortar locations, targeting meaningful, one-to-one digital marketing and customer service tailored to both their shopping history and current behaviors as they visit a particular store or uses the app to scan a bar code in the store.”
Regardless of which is a better fit for your store, MBS can help! Our advanced e-commerce product, inSite, can easily be optimized for mobile devices and our new mobile app, On The Go, puts your store in the palm of students’ hands with price comparison, buyback look up, and more! Talk to an MBS Representative for more information.
Associate Interaction Combats Showrooming
Sep 5th
The following article was written by Gloria Mellinger for IndependentRetailer.com and provides some valuable insights on how your store can keep consumers shopping in store rather than with an online competitor.
Showrooming, the practice of consumers conducting price comparisons on a mobile device while in-store and completing their purchase online, can impact the health of both brick and mortar and e-commerce retailers. A recent study found that 45 percent of customers shopping at brick and mortar locations would walk out and complete their purchase online for a discount as low as 2.5 percent. According to GroupM Next, who conducted the study, “Showrooming & The Price Of Keeping Buyers In-Store,” this number jumps to 60 percent of shoppers who would leave the store and purchase a product online for a savings of 5 percent. When discovering an online discount of 20 percent, a small percentage of shoppers, 13 percent, would stay and complete their purchase in-store. GroupM Next conducted the study to identify the tipping point at which the in-store and online price is large enough to lure shoppers out of stores. With insights into this trend, independent retailers can better target this segment of shoppers and capture their business online or at the checkout counter.
“Consumers have shifted their path to purchase to include the store as a step, but not necessarily the final step,” says said GroupM Next CEO Chris Copeland. “This will likely continue to increase over time. Brands need to think about how showrooming can be used to their advantage to navigate would-be buyers to a checkout location, be it in-store or online…Brands that sit on either side, be it the physical store or the online merchant, have multiple opportunities with this consumer change.”
Data highlights, as reported in the whitepaper on the research, include:
- 44 percent of consumers use a mobile device to influence their purchase decision when shopping in-store.
- If the price difference in-store vs. online is more than $5, most customers will leave the store.
- The average showroomer profile includes females who are younger in age and make online purchases frequently.
- The shopper who can be most swayed to stay and complete a purchase in-store is the older male, 55 percent of whom buy online one time per month.
- Customers who interact with an associate are 12.5 percent more likely to purchase in-store.
“Finding only a small price difference elsewhere using a mobile device is enough to entice a shopper to leave the store and buy online. By employing strategies to reach this massive audience segment, brands can significantly bolster their sales at the register or take advantage of their showrooming and effectively get the sale via a branded app or online property,” notes GroupM Next Director of Research Patrick Monteleone, Ph.D. “However, nearly 10 percent of purchasers we surveyed chose to complete their purchase in-store, no matter the price discount offered. They key for marketers is to identify the next 10 percent, the group of customers that are sensitive to price, but can be swayed to stay in-store.”
The easier you make it for customers to compare prices, the more likely they are to trust your store and shop with you. Simplify the process with MBS’ new mobile app, On The Go, which puts price comparison in the palm of students’ hands. Watch a demo then talk with your MBS representative to learn more.
Retail’s Future: Price Comparison Via Smartphone Apps
Aug 16th
The following excerpt is from the article Retail’s Future: Price Comparison Via Smartphone Apps written by Eric Zeman for InformationWeek.com
Brick-and-mortar retail businesses are under assault from smartphones. New data from Yankee Group shows that a growing number of smartphone users are taking advantage of mobile shopping applications to see where they can get the best deal.
According to Yankee, 46% of shoppers are using mobile apps when they cruise retail aisles. This figure is up about 5% since 2010. Half of the 46%–or one-quarter of shoppers–buy a less expensive product elsewhere once they’ve compared prices and availability.
Mobile has become a “fundamental part of the shopping experience,” says Yankee. More than half of consumers–54%–have downloaded at least one type of mobile shopping application, and about 24% of consumers believe mobile shopping apps are “essential.”
Consumers with higher incomes have been faster to adopt price-comparing apps and use them to buy from different stores or request that the brick-and-mortar location in which they are shopping match what they find on their phone. Of those making more than $200,000 in annual household income, 83% are likely to purchase the product online instead. That’s damaging to retailers.
“Our survey is a wakeup call–this adds up to millions in potential lost revenue for brick-and-mortars,” said Sheryl Kingstone, Yankee Group research director and author of the report.
“Retailers must embrace mobile beyond price comparison and target consumers who are not solely driven by price,” said Kingstone. “Engaging mobile consumers with tools such as inventory availability, real-time personalized offers, personal shoppers, and self-checkout will make the difference between retail success and failure in the new mobile economy.”
Allowing consumers to tap into inventory and other pertinent data could be a huge benefit to traditional retailers. The “immediacy factor” of being able to make purchases instantly, or the same day, can be a powerful motivational factor for brick-and-mortars that they should use to their advantage.
Don’t lose out on potential revenue! Take control of your sales by placing your store’s pricing and inventory information in the palm of students’ hands with your own branded mobile app! Available for both iPhone and Android devices, On The Go places relevant information directly in the hands of your customer base.
Seamlessly integrated with inSite, the app pulls data from your e-commerce page so that students can look up buyback prices, compare textbook prices, and search for general books and merchandise. Because it’s fully customizable, you can even brand the app by customizing it with your name, colors and logo!
Watch a demo then talk to your MBS Representative about how a mobile app can keep your store stay ahead of the game.
The Motivation to go Mobile
Jul 13th
The following excerpt is from the article 76% of small retailers not gone mobile, even though 89% want to, finds study, written by Paul Skeldon for Internet Retailing.
Small and medium sized retailers are being left behind when it comes to incorporating mobile commerce as part of their customer offering, finds a study undertaken by Onepoll for MoPowered.
According to the study, 89% of SME retailers cited m-commerce as essential for capturing new business, with many of the merchants surveyed believing that m-commerce sales would grow by a third within the next 5 years. But, only 24% of these retailers actually had a site that is compatible for m-commerce at the time of the survey. The main reasons cited for not going mobile were perceived as high costs, lack of resource and concerns about security.
Dominic Keen, chief executive of MoPowered, an m-commerce solution aimed at the smaller retail sector, says: “The retailers that we spoke to are right in thinking that mobile commerce is essential for their growth. Research from Google shows that 15% of all online traffic is now coming through mobile. This means that not having a mobile optimized site is equivalent to shutting your online store for one day every week.”
Commenting on security concerns around mobile Phillip McGriskin, Chief Product Officer at WorldPay adds: “Retailers should choose an m-commerce provider that takes security seriously and puts security at the heart of everything they do. Customers should experience the same high levels of security through the mobile channel as through e-commerce, as payments systems should be fully compatible with payment card industry standards.”
The study also found that 27% of those questioned had abandoned transactions when shopping via mobile on a non-mobile optimized site. Additionally 79% said they had found shopping via mobile to be slow and difficult to navigate.
Keen adds: “It is important that retailers get their mobile offering right. Retailers that don’t have a mobile site are losing out on transactions as browsers are not being converted into sales due to difficulty in navigating non-mobile optimized sites.”
Talking about the importance of integrating onto the channel Clare Rayner, independent retail expert says: “SME retailers need to take every opportunity possible to ensure that they continue to be part of our retail landscape. Shopping is becoming more and more about multi-channel accessibility and it is therefore essential that independent retailers embrace the opportunity offered by mobile commerce.”
MBS’ new mobile app, On the Go, can resolve this issue for college stores. Because it’s seamlessly integrated with inSite, On The Go pulls data from your e-commerce page so that students can look up buyback prices, textbook prices, and search for general books and merchandise. They can then even purchase their textbook from your store directly through the mobile app. Watch a demo or find out how we can help your store go mobile by talking with your MBS Representative.
Five Ways College Student Internet Use is Unique
Apr 10th
The following article, Plugged in: Five Ways College Student Internet Use is Unique, was written by Mykel Nahorniak, CEO of Localist, for SocialMediaToday.com.
Seems like everyone these days is constantly plugged in: it’s no surprise that today’s college students are some of the biggest internet users. Look around any campus and you’ll see college students connecting all over the place.
There are students thumbing smart phones while waiting in line for coffee, lining library tables with laptops, and up late in the common room with tablets on their knees. No matter the device of choice, on a college campus, everyone’s connected.
So what exactly are students doing online? And is college student internet use all that different from that of those who left the quad years ago?
To supplement what we’ve learned from experience, we took a look at some studies from the 2011 Pew Internet and American Life Project and the First Monday article, Everyday Life, Online: U.S. College Students’ Use of the Internet.
Let’s break it down with five characteristics of college student internet use you should know:
1. It’s not all fun and games, but most of the time, it is
You might be thinking, shouldn’t this list include studying? College students are, after all, students. The answer is yes; the internet has certainly made it easier than ever for students to conduct research, access online course content, and share academic materials. However, students are spending a significant portion of their time online doing non-academic activities.
Take a snapshot of a student’s internet activity for one day and you’ll see that a lot of time is spent emailing, IMing or chatting, playing games, connecting on social networking sites, and watching videos.
So while college student internet use isn’t all fun and games, the majority of the time, it is.
2. It’s as basic as breakfast
Millenials are the first generation to truly embrace internet devices and activities like social networking as an essential part of daily life. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that unlike older generations who marvel at internet-related technologies as new innovations, millenials seamlessly weave them into their daily lives, as if they were old friends. Consuming and sharing information across multiple devices and websites feels familiar and natural to college students.
3. It’s all about usability
Pop quiz: True or false? Today’s college student internet users are tech-savvy.
Answer: False. It’s a commonly held misconception that college student internet users are all tech wizards. There’s a big difference between frequently using technology and being tech savvy.
In our experience, college students don’t always care how an app or new technology works. They just want it to be easy to access and use. Give them a product that takes too long to figure out, and they’re on to the next one.
4. It’s dynamic and participatory
College students are both consumers and creators in the internet community. They spend time devouring information from news sites, blogs, and social networking sites and posting content of their own.
As a group, they appreciate interactive opportunities to access information and contribute ideas. The internet has given college students a voice, and they like to use it. To them, no website is complete without that little blank box asking them to share their opinions in the form of a comment.
5. Connecting to connect: it’s all about social
Social networking sites are the new common rooms. Millenials, more than any other age group, use the internet primarily for connecting with others. They’re also the only generation that thinks technology makes people closer together rather than isolated.
It isn’t surprising then that 86% of millenials who attend or have attended college identify themselves as social network users. They build and maintain social relationships through Facebook, Twitter, email, chat programs, and blogging. They’re visiting social networking sites multiple times a day. Some even describe their online social activity as an addiction.
Talk to a college student and they’d ask, what’s the point of accessing the wealth of information on the internet if you can’t share it? When it comes down to it, it’s all about social.
If students are online, then your store needs to be, too! We have lots of ways to help you connect with your target audience. For instance, our new mobile app, On The Go, places relevant information directly in the hands of your customer base.
Seamlessly integrated with inSite, the app pulls data from your e-commerce page so that students can look up buyback prices, compare textbook prices, and search for general books and merchandise. Because it’s fully customizable, you can even brand the app by customizing it with your name, colors and logo!
Learn how you can bring this solution to your store by contacting your MBS Systems Sales Representative!
